Page 36 of Infinity Chronicles 1
“It’s only going to get harder to control, we have to do this,” Milo states flatly.
Ollie places his hand on Dante’s shoulder in a show of support. “Start with our story,” he offers softly.
Dante drops his elbows to his knees and grabs his head in his hands. “That’s not any easier to explain.” He looks up and meets my eyes briefly. “You know she’s going to think we’re crazy, right?”
“Not after see sees it, feels it for real.” Ollie scoots forward on the seat. “So, you know Dante has a brother, Ares.” He looks at me waiting for a response. I nod. Their wariness is wearing off on me. “Our parents were close friends, so all four of us grew up more like brothers than friends. I can’t remember a time I wasn’t at one of their houses or they were at mine.” Ollie gets a small smile on his face while looking across the room. “Me and Milo are only children, it’s uncommon for a grouping to have more than one child, that’s part of the reason we form groups instead of pairs, there are way more males than females.” He shakes his head. “I’m getting ahead of myself. Where was I? Oh yeah, so we’ve known we were different than norms since pretty much forever. We get taught from an early age to keep the truth of ourselves hidden. I mean, it’s not hard until we manifest, there’s nothing to hide really, we just don’t advertise that we know things will be different for us.”
I bring my fingers up to my lips darting my eyes around the room.Is he for real? Ollie continues, “Typically, when we come of age,” he clears his throat, “we get a marker, like an identifier that links you to your grouping.”
I hold my hand up and close my eyes. “What kind of identifier?”
“It’s usually something small, something that looks like a birthmark,” Dante answers, leaning back on the couch, fiddling with the thick leather bracelet on his wrist. “So, most groups have two males and one female, there are a few that have three guys, but that’s not very common.
Ares got his mark before us, cause obviously he’s older. When your mark appears it’s a big deal, it gets…” He struggles for the word. “…registered?” He glances between Milo and Ollie.
Milo nods. “Yeah something like that.” His hands are braced on the counter behind him. It shows off how tapered his waist is, and the width of his shoulders. He’s staring off into space, so I take a few moments to study him. The distance and the fading sun conceals the blue of his eyes. His brow is drawn low, and shadows darken his features, making him look more intimidating. His head snaps up and he meets my eyes, I look away immediately hating he caught me staring.
“Ares’s mark was presented, and no one came forward with a matching mark. That occasionally happens. Sometimes members of the group might not have manifested yet because they are younger by a year or two, but Ares went four years before anyone got the same identifier.”
“It was me,” Ollie pipes up. His chin rose with a challenge. “I was relieved. I already knew Ares, loved him like a brother so I knew we could work together as a team. But… it scared me too. Ares had manifested four years early and he still didn’t have a Synergist, that’s a long time to go without the core of your ability.”
Milo’s brisk movement startles me as he joins Ollie on the sofa. He sits down hip to hip with him, running his palm over Ollie’s back. “I was next, my birthday is just a few weeks after Ollie’s.” the two boys look at each other, a slight grin pulling a Milo’s lips, while Ollie just stares back with open affection. My earlier assumption is affirmed, they are definitely together.
“My mark showed up a few months later, but by that time we already suspected it would, we had always been really close, so it made sense in a weird way that we would all be in a group. There hasn’t been an Infinity with five in a really long time; it’s almost unheard of now.” Dante adds. “Ares was… he had been struggling, but now with all of us manifesting with the same mark, he got excited. Thinking that our Synergist would show herself at any moment.” Dante scoots forward on the couch, his eyes boring into mine. “That was almost two years ago.”
They seem so serious, there’s a small part of me that almost believes them, they’re so convincing. “Let’s pretend I believe you.” I raise my eyebrows in query. “What does any of it have to do with me?”
A man steps forward from the shadows in the corner of the room, a scream almost tears from my throat. “You’re who we’ve been waiting for. You are our Synergist.”
Thirteen
Dante jumps up and turns to face the man who just walked in out of nowhere. He must have been here the whole time—hiding in the bathroom? My brain struggles to explain his sudden appearance. I get on my knees, preparing to bolt at a moment’s notice. The relative safety I’d felt with the guys evaporates when my eyes connect with the man in front of me. The shadows cling to him, casting doubt that’s he’s even really there. “Ares,” Dante warns. “You said we had until tomorrow before you arrived.” This is Ares? Holy shit! If I thought Dante had the bad boy thing down, he has nothing on his big brother.
Ares’s eyes leave me for the first time since his appearance and shift to Dante. His hand lifts to cover his mouth, pinching his lips slightly, and then he pulls his palm, free sliding it down his neck. He rolls his head on his shoulders, before taking one menacing step toward his brother.Run,that’s my first thought. Ares is dangerous in a way I can’t describe.
Coming to my feet, I keep my movements small, I don’t want to attract his focus again. I sidestep the table, making it slightly closer to the exit. I shouldn’t be here.
“Six years.” Ares doesn’t yell, he doesn’t even raise his voice. Dante drops his head, eyes cast to the floor. Milo and Ollie stand as a unit. I take a few steps closer to the stairs. “Where are you trying to disappear tocara?” I stiffen, he’s not even looking in my direction, but I know he’s talking to me.
My mouth goes dry when all four of them turn to eye me. I lick my lips. “I don’t know what you guys think you’re doing, but I’m not playing this game.” One moment I’m standing alone a few feet from my escape, the next Ares is there right in front of me blocking my path. Instinctively I take a step back, my head shakes in denial as my hands begin to tremble. No, that’s not possible, no one can move that fast.
“Why have you been hiding from me?” His words are spoken softly, contrary to the anger simmering in his brown eyes. I look to the others for help, they don’t move.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but my mom is expecting me home at any minute.” It’s a lie, one I hope he doesn’t catch. Ares’s hand reaches up and I flinch away. I feel a slight tug on the loose hair on the left side of my face. I open my eyes to find Ares staring at his fingers sliding down my hair. His lips part as he rubs his thumb and forefinger together once he reaches the end. I take another step back and my calves hit the table behind me.
Fingers intertwine with mine as Ollie steps up to my side. “You’re scaring her,” he accuses. Ares tilts his head and his eyes narrow on our joined hands. The tingle flares to life. I squeeze Ollie’s hand tighter grateful for the support.
“I believe her,” Dante mutters. “She doesn’t know what we are.” A spike of anger has me tensing.
“I don’t care if any of you believe me or not. Frankly I’m not convinced you guys aren’t trying to fuck with me.”
“Gattinohas a little bite,” Ares challenges with one eyebrow raised. His eyes scan me, from my worn out sneakers to my miss matched eyes. The corner of his lip twitches in a barely noticeable fashion. Is he laughing at me? I bare my teeth in a sneer, he may be intimidating, but there’s something about him that puts me on edge. Ares eyes go wide before the throws his head back and a laugh booms free. “Yes, a bite indeed.” He slaps Ollie on his shoulder and turns away from us.
I deflate immediately. Feeling shaky, I don’t protest when Ollie tugs me over to the sofa to sit. Dante tucks himself next to me, leaving a small gap for Milo to wedge into.
Ares walks back from the kitchen with a bottle of water tipped to his lips, watching us the whole time. Seeming satisfied with what he finds, his eyes take in the space around us. “So, this is where you’ve been hold up?” His mouth turns down in a frown. I look around noticing the sparse decorations and minimalistic amenities. It’s roomier than I’m used to, but compared to the house across the driveway this must have less to offer. I eye the plush carpet and the fine leather couch, wondering what he finds lacking.
“Like you’re one to talk. We haven’t seen you in what, seven months? No, eight. It was Christmas, right?”
